ENTRY POINTS TO SUPPORT COLLABORATIVE CLIMATE ACTION

VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND LEARNING FORLOW-EMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Kenya South Africa The Philippines Vietnam

Strengthening climate collaboration between multiple levels of government (vertical inte-gration) and between sectors at the same gov-erning level (horizontal alignment) is necessary to improve coherence and complementarity of climate policy and implementation. Collabora-tive climate action is fundamental to the trans-formative shifts needed to achieve the Paris Agreement’s ambition to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Drawing on practitioner insights and research conducted for the V-LED project, fund-ed by the International Climate Initiative of the German Ministry of the Environment, a range of entry points are presented to support the collaborative design and implementation of ambitious climate actions. These entry points are grouped according to three priority areas for effective multilevel governance: Empower, Equip and Align.

The case for collaborative climate action

The IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5°C reaf-

firms the urgency of the Paris Agreement. To avoid dan-

gerous consequences, global greenhouse gas emissions

must reach net-zero by 2050. While the international UN-

FCCC climate regime has managed to orchestrate national

climate commitments, current national mitigation targets

fall well short of achieving the low-carbon transformation.

National emission pathways cannot be transformed without

changing the energy use of cities and behaviour of their cit-

izens. Municipal governments hold mandates in key sectors

for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, such as transport

and land use planning. Subnational and non-state actors

are already pioneering low-emission pathways and are in-

creasingly recognised as key to ratcheting up ambitions and

Multilevel climate governance encompasses vertical and horizontal types of coordination (adapted from Jänicke 2013, DOI: 10.2312/iass.2015.021).

Sectors

Sectors: Environment, Transport, Construction, Agriculture, etc.

Actors

Vertical coordination Horizontal coordination

Actors: Governments, Businesses, Civil society, etc.

Levels:

Local

Regional

National

International

The V-LED project (2015-2019)

The V-LED project (Vertical Integration and Learning for Low-Emission Development in Africa and Southeast Asia) supported the governments of Kenya, the Philip-pines, South Africa and Vietnam to strengthen vertically integrated climate actions and mitigation and adaption capacities of local governments. It facilitated dialogue between national institutions, subnational authorities and communities, and enabled learning networks be-tween local actors. The project was implemented by adelphi, the Institute for Law and Environmental Gov-ernance (ILEG), OneWorld Sustainable Investments, Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA) and UN Habitat and funded by the German Federal Ministry of the Environ-ment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) as part of its International Climate Initiative. A second phase of the project (V-LED+) will run up to 2021. Learn more at: www.localclimateaction.org

22

achieving national emission reduction targets. However,

subnational governments cannot achieve transformational

changes independently. Despite key mandates, the ena-

bling conditions for low-emission development pathways

are often defined by national policies and regulatory frame-

works; and subnational entities often lack critical resources

and capacity. Sufficiently ambitious efforts to tackle climate

change can benefit from vertically integrating local govern-

ments into national policy frameworks and programmes, co-

ordinating implementation between relevant stakeholders

and collaborating across governing levels.

The case for investing in effective multilevel governance and

collaborative climate action is strong. Effective multilevel

governance frameworks specify clear roles and responsibil-

ities, address issues at the appropriate scale of governance

and ensure that mandates are aligned to planning frame-

works and budget cycles. They can further guarantee that

incentives for climate action are available, support the flow

of financial resources and help ensure that institutional ca-

pacities at different levels are in place.

Vertical coordination

Horizontal coordination

Actors: Governments, Businesses, Civil society, etc.

Sectors: Environment, Transport, Construction, Agriculture, etc.

Vertical policy dialogues need to be implemented in a way

that recognises power imbalances between local and na-

tional authorities and tries to ‘level the field’ so that partici-

pants share equal authority to speak and equal responsibility

to listen. This approach requires repeated commitment and

expert facilitation, as it takes time for local actors to feel suf-

ficiently empowered.

Vertical integration policies and programmes should include

mechanisms that facilitate feedback between levels and em-

power subnational governments in policy making and tar-

get setting. This could be regular forums between national

and local stakeholders or representation of subnational as-

sociations of governments on national steering committees.

In countries lacking such forums, governance projects (such

as V-LED) can facilitate dialogues focussed on specific policy

processes, for example NDC formation, or sectors, for exam-

ple uptake of renewable energy..

3VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND LEARNING FOR LOW-EMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Collaborative climate govern-ance and action

Collaborative climate governance and action, or a multilevel climate governance approach, refer to the constructive interplay between different levels of gov-ernment, sectors and non-state actors in governing cli-mate action.

Vertical coordination refers to the top-down and bot-tom-up coordination between different governing lev-els, from local to regional, national and international scales. Horizontal coordination refers to actor-to-actor interactions at the same governance level, such as na-tional sector forums, regional governance bodies and city-to-city cooperation networks.

E M P O W E R

1. Involve subnational actors in nation-al policy making processes to ensure buy-in, take account of existing actions and raise ambition

Building feedback loops from the local and regional levels

into national policy discussions can improve how govern-

ments implement strategies by responding to local needs,

capacities and priorities. Vertical policy dialogues can pro-

vide a space for constructive bottom-up feedback and im-

prove implementation. In the Philippines, an early ‘complaint’

among municipal participants was the high number of over-

lapping reporting and planning documents demanded by

different national ministries. Complying with all the require-

ments consumed valuable resources. National government

representatives understood that local governments were

overwhelmed and decided to streamline climate change

planning and provide extra support.

Ensuring that local strategies are accounted for in NDCs can

increase reported action and encourage more ambitious tar-

gets. In some cases, the ambitions of local governments may

be leveraged to pressure national policy or regulation shifts.

For example, some large cities in South Africa have renewa-

ble energy objectives that outstrip the national government

and are constrained by policies that tie them to the coal-

fired electricity grid. The South African Local Governments

Association (SALGA) has repeatedly pushed for the national

Integrated Resource Plan to increase allowances for embed-

ded electricity generation using renewable sources, and

the newly drafted plan does call for significant increase of

renewable energy.

The V-LED project supported collaborative climate action by building capacities and facilitating dialogue between actors

and levels of government. The entry points presented here synthesise key learnings from the project and aim to help gov-

ernments and international actors speed up collaborative climate action and improve NDC design and implementation.

Entry points to support collaborative climate action

44 VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND LEARNING FOR LOW-EMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

however many struggle to exert influence over policy and

lack the convening power to drive horizontal coordination.

For example Vietnam’s National Committee for Climate

Change has held few official meetings since its inception

and is generally perceived as a symbolic, representative

body that provides a platform for discussion but does not

actively steer processes. Despite being chaired by the Head

of Government, its convening power is limited and not rec-

ognised by some powerful line ministries (for example the

Ministry of Finance). Anchoring coordination committees at

high political level gives them formal recognition, yet there

are clear differences in terms of political leverage, capacity

and resources in comparison to adequately staffed and re-

sourced institutions whose roles and responsibilities have a

strong legal basis. Unique among the V-LED countries, the

Philippine Climate Change Commission is set up as a gov-

ernment agency. It is mandated by the Climate Change Act

to develop policy and coordinate its implementation both

vertically and horizontally.

Dedicated climate change institutions and coordinating

structures are important to facilitate horizontal, vertical and

multi-stakeholder collaboration. To substantially influence

policy processes, they need to move beyond representative

purposes and be equipped with adequate resources, clear

(and ideally legal) mandates and political leverage to influ-

ence planning and budgeting processes.

E Q U I P

4. Ensure access to finance for subnational implementation

Along with the mandate and technical capacities, subna-

tional governments need adequate funding to implement

climate actions. But they often generate little own revenue,

lack the creditworthiness to ensure bankability of poten-

tial investments or the autonomy to undertake innovative

approaches for financing low-emission, climate-resilient

2. Provide clear mandates and appropriate implementing authority to subnational governments

V-LED countries have pursued national legislation and policy

to address climate change as a cross-cutting priority; howev-

er national laws and policies should clearly address cooper-

ation between governing levels and the responsibilities and

resources of subnational governments.

In South Africa, where municipal governments have strong

mandates to drive economic growth and employment,

experts and advocates are divided as to whether climate

change falls under existing environmental mandates. Over-

lapping mandates concerning water, energy, transport and

housing infrastructure complicate where local government

has the authority to intervene. Likewise, due to the rapid

devolution process in Kenya, some county officials were un-

aware of their mandated climate policy responsibilities and

opportunities to access resources, for example the newly

created national Climate Change Fund. V-LED produced a

Devolution Guide to Climate Change to clarify the respon-

sibilities decentralised to county governments and hosted

vertical dialogues that brought together the Ministry of

Devolution with county governing actors and civil society.

In Kwale County, where V-LED concentrated its activities,

leaders are currently exploring how county level legislation

can cement policy for action and facilitate increased access

to national funding streams.

National legislation can address vertical fragmentation by

explicitly mandating subnational governments to respond

to climate change, clearly delineating their responsibilities

and roles within a national framework and addressing the

resource gap necessary for implementation. Mainstreaming

climate change into investment planning and linking local

climate response strategies to finance mechanisms will in-

crease local action.

3. Provide mandates and resources to coordinating entities to facilitate collaboration across sectors and levels

Collaborative climate governance requires leadership and

facilitation. National climate policies often assign important

responsibilities to climate change coordination committees,

5VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND LEARNING FOR LOW-EMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

projects. International climate finance does not easily trickle

down to the local level. Small municipalities find applica-

tions for national and international schemes burdensome,

and small projects often go unfunded.

Countries are developing different approaches to channel fi-

nance towards local implementation. As a way to incentivise

local adaptation projects, the Philippines national govern-

ment created the People’s Survival Fund, which prioritises

local governments with high exposure to climate risks. The

fund faces operational challenges, specifically with regards

to ensuring that local governments with limited capacity

can meet the proposal requirements, but the national Cli-

mate Change Commission is working to simplify application

mechanisms and coach municipalities - through V-LED and

other programmes - on drafting quality proposals. Similarly,

in South Africa and Kenya, V-LED trainings raised local gov-

ernments’ and community groups’ awareness of available

national and international funding opportunities and sup-

ported them to create bankable projects. In Kenya, there is

a current push to replicate County Climate Change Funds

(piloted through the UK financed StARCK+ project) to sup-

port counties to access the National Climate Change Fund,

attract international finance and facilitate delivery of locally

appropriate climate investments.

National governments and international donors need to

address the funding pipeline to increase access to climate

finance for transformative local action. Regulations can be

streamlined and specific calls can be established for un-

der-resourced local governments. National or regional help-

desk facilities can assist smaller local governments in pro-

posal writing and in generating suites of bankable projects.

Regional entities can help municipalities access investments

by pooling initiatives into larger programmes.

5. Strengthen local horizontal peer- to-peer learning and good practice exchange

Creating the space for subnational governments to ex-

change knowledge amongst each other can increase capac-

ities, motivate local leadership and lead to the replication of

successful strategies.

The V-LED project produced positive results when bring-

ing together local authorities that operate under the same

regulatory conditions. For example, in Vietnam, interna-

tional good practices were perceived as difficult to imple-

ment since subnational authorities have limited autonomy

and must navigate a unique governance system; however

local leaders were enthusiastic to troubleshoot challenges

and share success strategies among peers. In Kenya, coun-

ties sharing a coastal ecosystem and experiencing common

climate change impacts exchanged lessons on integrated

water resources management. Similarly, also in Kenya, the

success of Makueni County in legislating and setting up a

devolved County Climate Change Fund serves as a model

for replication.

National associations of cities and provinces can be key part-

ners and catalytic actors for local climate action. They can

spearhead or partner with national or international develop-

ment projects to convene local governments for horizontal

exchange, facilitate replication of successful projects or tools,

and represent the priorities of subnational governments in

national and international policy discussions. V-LED worked

closely with national associations of local governments in

South Africa and the Philippines. Associations often have a

wealth of expertise and data about local contexts and are

able to provide access to key actors within their networks.

In South Africa, SALGA has been a leading advocate for in-

creased resources for local climate action and works with

municipalities to follow the latest national guidelines for

sustainable development.

Actors encouraging local climate action (e.g. national govern-

ments or international projects) should consider investing in

and partnering with national associations/networks of local

governments and co-creating projects or initiatives to in-

crease the replications and sustainability of interventions.

6. Support local networks of engaged citizens to hold governments accountable and increase their motivation to act

Active, empowered and organised civil society groups can

influence climate policy, maintain political commitment and

ensure implementation of climate plans and strategies. Lo-

cal citizen networks can pressure local governments to put

66 VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND LEARNING FOR LOW-EMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

and keep climate change on the political agenda, participate

in public consultations and unofficially monitor progress.

In Kenya, the V-LED project worked closely with the Kwale

County Natural Resource Network, raising capacities to un-

derstand climate change issues and providing technical

training on developing climate actions. The network has a

strong membership base with broad connections to local

communities and natural resource user groups and actively

promotes the views of its membership on county legisla-

tion. With the support of different programmes, the network

has become an important advocate for sustainable devel-

opment in Kwale County. The network has petitioned the

county government to develop a climate change policy and

bill and create the framework for a county-level climate fund.

Supporting the participation or partnership of local civil so-

ciety can help root international projects in local contexts,

identify best routes of action and increase the scale of im-

pact. Often that may involve ‘inviting them to the table’ of

important meetings, funding advocacy or empowering

them to monitor and evaluate progress. Ideally, such local

networks can be linked up to influential regional and nation-

al climate change networks and multi-stakeholder platforms.

A L I G N

7. Align climate response with develop-ment planning and budgeting at the subnational level

Climate change should be a development priority. Political

or financial incentives for local action (e.g. job creation, air

pollution control or earmarked national funds) can increase

buy-in from local leaders and stimulate the preparation of

scalable bankable projects. In contrast, when climate plans

are siloed away from discussions about socioeconomic de-

velopment - for example when climate response is consid-

ered a subfield of environmental management - they are

often deprioritised and left unimplemented. Climate proof-

ing budget processes or linking climate change planning to

specific finance mechanisms encourages local governments

to implement national policy and local strategies.

In both the Philippines and Vietnam, local governments are

mandated to create local climate change response plans,

but often lack the required technical expertise and resourc-

es to implement. As a result, many plans are disconnected

from local realities and suggest actions beyond the resourc-

es and capacities of local government. Likewise, across the

V-LED countries, climate change planning rarely influences

yearly budgets or long-term investments, for example cli-

mate-proofed infrastructure. This was identified as a key bar-

rier to policy implementation. Kenya climate change policy

follows a mainstreaming approach, mandating County Gov-

ernments to mainstream the National Climate Change Action

Plan into their County Integrated Development Plans (CIDP).

V-LED thus facilitated a number of vertical dialogues and

horizontal exchanges focused on integrating climate change

response into key climate-sensitive sectors represented in

the CIDP (i.e. agriculture, water, waste management).

To ensure climate change response moves beyond policy

silos, national policy can mandate or encourage local gov-

ernments to mainstream climate change into urban devel-

opment planning and long-term capital investments. Third

party actors, such as civil society groups or international de-

velopment agencies, can play a key role in developing main-

streaming guides and coaching local governments based

on development priorities.

8. Strengthen dialogical approaches to collaborative climate action

Collaboration requires a conscious effort to strengthen dia-

logue between actors, government levels and sectors in or-

der to understand each other’s perspectives. Ideally, dialogue

processes can be institutionalised within governing frame-

works and managed by a national commission or commit-

tee. Dialogue should occur horizontally among participating

ministries and vertically in cooperation with municipal and

regional governments. Formal channels to facilitate dialogue

on cross-cutting climate change issues include high-level in-

ter-ministerial bodies (i.e. national climate change such as

the Vietnamese National Committee for Climate Change), or

cabinet committees, such as the Philippine Cabinet Cluster

on Climate Change. Some mechanisms, such as the South

7VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND LEARNING FOR LOW-EMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

African Intergovernmental Climate Change Committee and

the Kenyan Climate Change Council, include representatives

from all levels of government and non-state actors. Estab-

lishing coordination mechanisms that allow for constructive

dialogue can be challenging when top-down thinking is

deeply ingrained in national-local government relationships

and departments may be reluctant to work across sectoral

boundaries. Critiques noted during the project include that

formal committees act as top-down information channels,

that they offer symbolic representation rather than steering

authority, and that relevant powerful stakeholders do not

engage with them (e.g. finance and energy ministries).

In the absence of existing or well-functioning formal com-

munication mechanisms between actors and levels, third

party facilitated informal dialogue can be valuable to sup-

port coordinated actions. Third parties can dedicate the

needed time, resources and technical expertise to design

dialogue workshops and function as a neutral broker. For

example in the Philippines, the V-LED UN Habitat team facil-

itated a series of horizontal dialogues between various na-

tional government agencies responsible for climate change

action and local government affairs to clarify responsibilities

and streamline overlapping guidelines developed for local

governments. Informal channels of communication and col-

laboration can also be strengthened by simply providing op-

portunities for relationship building between government

officials at different scales. V-LED supported this through

bringing national and subnational government officials to-

gether in joint workshop retreats and a study tour.

9. Consider subnational regional governments as key actors to enable local climate action

Subnational regional entities are well-positioned to support

climate action among local governments. As a bridge be-

tween local and the national levels, regional governments

are able to retain capacity and institutional knowledge rel-

evant to local contexts, facilitate horizontal dialogue, and

spearhead ecosystem-based governance across municipal

boundaries. Further, regional entities can provide service

and guidance to local governments, especially those with

limited experience and resources; and facilitate innovative

finance mechanisms, for example project bundling for grant

proposals, loans or green bonds.

Through successful dialogue between the Philippine nation-

al government (via the national Climate Change Commis-

sion) and local governing units, national actors understood

and recognised the need for increased capacity support

to local governments. Nonetheless, the Commission does

not have the resources to offer support to the nearly 1,500

municipalities. Project partners and participants began to

explore how provinces (81 in total) could fill the gap and

offer more individualised support to municipalities in order

to comply with national policy and follow guidelines as well

as communicating common local challenges and needs to

national actors.

Regional governments can leverage their own capacities

and resources in the interests of municipalities. In South Af-

rica, for example, budget transfers from the national treas-

ury are insufficient to finance bold climate action, and many

municipalities struggle to obtain attractive long-term loans

in order to invest in sustainable infrastructure. In response,

the Western Cape Province is creating the Sustainable In-

frastructure Development and Finance Facility (SIDAFF) to

support local governments identify sustainable investment

opportunities, develop projects from the pre-feasible to

bankable stage, and guide long-term financial strategies to

fund sustainable growth using tools developed by the Na-

tional Treasury. The regional government invested own-re-

sources to leverage support from international partners and

set up a finance ready institutional structure capable of is-

suing pooled green bonds or applying for loans based on

bundled projects.

There are a number of ways regional governments can sup-

port local action, from finance to institutionalised peer-to-

peer exchange in order to replicate good practices. When

approaching NDC implementation or local climate action

with a multilevel governance perspective, it is important

to consider how the regional level may be appropriately in-

volved and supported. Likewise, international interventions

targeting local climate action might consider how engaging

with regional government could contribute to sustainability

and replicability.

Supported by

based on a decision of the Parliamentof the Federal Republic of Germany

As the climate policy discussion continues to shift from building consensus and planning towards bold implementation, a

groundswell of local action has been recognised as driving forward transformation. Governments can respond to well-known

barriers to local climate action through improved multilevel governance. Coordinating ambitious climate targets across gov-

ernment agencies and engaging subnational actors as key implementers and decision makers can unlock potential and drive

transformation. Drawing from project experiences and practitioner observations, this synthesis brief focussed on actionable

entry points to improve multilevel climate governance and scale up action. Roles and responsibilities diff er from level to level

but achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires that international, national, regional and local actors seek to comple-

ment each other’s actions and collaborate for a climate-resilient, low-emission future.

Adriázola, Paola; Eleni Dellas and Dennis Tänzler 2018: Supporting Local Climate Action: Multi-Level Governance Instru-ments for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation at the Local Level. Berlin: adelphi.

Andreas, Marcus; Rea Uy Epistola; Maria Adelaida Cea; Lisa Strauch and Tucker Landesman 2018: Multi-level climate gov-ernance in the Philippines. Shaping connections for climate action. Berlin/Manila: adelphi/ UN-Habitat.

Bellali, Johara; Lisa Strauch, Francis Oremo, Benson Ochieng 2018: Multi-level climate governance in Kenya. Activating mechanisms for climate action. Berlin: adelphi/ILEG.

Petrie, Belynda; Peta Wolpe; Yachika Reddy; Paola Adriázola; Michael Gerhard; Tucker Landesman; Lisa Strauch and Anais Marie 2018: Multi-level climate governance in South Africa. Catalysing fi nance for local climate action. Berlin/ Cape Town: OneWorld, Sustainable Energy Africa, adelphi.

Strauch, Lisa; Yann Robiou du Pont and Julia Balanowski 2018: Multi-level climate governance in Vietnam. Bridging national planning and local climate action. Berlin: adelphi.

Conclusion

Further reading

Publisher:

adelphiAlt-Moabit 9110559 Berlin, Germanywww.adelphi.de Berlin, May 2019

Contact:

Lisa Strauch, strauch@adelphi.de Dr. Tucker Landesman, landesman@adelphi.deDr. Marcus Andreas, andreas@adelphi.de

Pictures & Design:

Design by Studio Grafico, Berlin,www.studio-grafico.deCover photo by Toa Heftiba Şinca, pexels.com

VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND LEARNING FOR LOW-EMISSION DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA